Document Shredding

Educational Resources

Don’t Recycle Your Identity

As consumers become more concerned with the security of personal information, including social security numbers, financial information and account numbers, greater numbers of people are investing in personal or home shredders to reduce the risk of trashed or recycled documents being used by criminals against them.

While shredded paper is recyclable, it poses certain problems in CVWMA’s recycling system. Shredded paper can become wrapped or entangled around the equipment that processes recyclable materials in Chester, causing equipment to break or need to be serviced more frequently.

Alternatives to shredding mass amounts of paper and recycling them in CVWMA’s curbside and drop-off collection programs are below:

Shred only documents with sensitive information (such as account numbers), not all the extra paper (such as advertisements and envelopes) that may accompany a bill or financial statement.

If you shred, try composting the shredded paper in a home compost bin, vegetable or flower garden instead of recycling it.

Donate your shredded paper to a local animal shelter- it makes great bedding for the animals.

As a final resort, if you shred, place shredded paper in a paper grocery bag to recycle it in CVWMA’s curbside or drop-off recycling programs. DO NOT USE plastic grocery bags as these are just as harmful to the equipment as the shredded paper. Truckloads are not accepted.

For additional recycling resources in Virginia and beyond, check out Earth 911. This site features a zip-code based search engine for locality-specific recycling information throughout North America.